Would Tiger Woods join Premier Golf League?

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – History does not favor Si Woo Kim this week. No champion of THE PLAYERS Championship has successfully defended in the 44 years of the tournament. The best result by a defending champ are the T-5s posted by Jack Nicklaus (1977), Tom Kite (1990) and Hal Sutton (2001). More to the point, the defending champ rarely finds himself in contention, and is more apt to miss the cut. Since Sutton’s result, the last 16 results by the defending PLAYERS champ includes four missed cuts, a WD, a DNP and just one top-10 finish – by Adam Scott, who tied for eighth in 2005. A year ago, Jason Day tied for 60th after shooting a final-round 80. Meanwhile, Kim became the youngest champ in PLAYERS history, winning by three strokes. It was an unexpected victory – and Kim continued to produce the unexpected Thursday. His 5-under 67 is the lowest opening score by a defending champ since the tournament moved to TPC Sawgrass in 1982. Had he not stumbled down the stretch with bogeys in two of his last three holes, he would’ve been the first-round leader. “I played great,� said the 22-year-old Korean, who began his round off the 10th tee and was a bogey-free 7 under for his first 14 holes. “… I liked the score in the first round, but I can hit it better.� Day arrived at TPC Sawgrass in 2017 still dealing with issues involving his mother’s battle with cancer. It did not leave him in the proper frame of mind to defend, but he also acknowledged that it’s difficult to defend in a tournament that produces the best field of the season. “This tournament is heightened,� he said. “The level of it just goes up every single year. I think it gets closer and closer to a major championship feel every single year that we play, and I feel like a lot of the guys think that it’s a major championship.� And just like a major, there are few successful defenses. The last one came at the Open Championship in 2008 when Padraig Harrington won at Royal Birkdale. Since the end of World War II, a total of 289 majors have been played – and the defending champ has won just 14 times, a success rate of less than 5 percent. Of course, that’s still better than the zero percent for defending PLAYERS champ. Asked after his round Thursday about what it would mean to be the first player to achieve that feat, Kim replied, “I feel like it would be dreaming, but that’s too hard. This is just the first round. I’m going to keep working hard.� Probably a wise move. Not only is he battling the best field in golf, he’s battling history. Notables Bubba Watson has made 10 starts at TPC Sawgrass. His best result was a T-37 in 2013. But his opening 68 – which ties for his lowest score in his last 21 rounds here – has him on personal-best pace. “Every time I come here, I’m just trying to beat 37,� Watson said. “I’m no good around this place. It’s very difficult for me because of the sights off the tee, some of the trees. It makes me fear hitting shots that I want to hit.� On Thursday he hit a respectable 10 fairways and 13 greens. Rule, Britannia? The English group of Justin Rose (68), Tommy Fleetwood (69) and Ian Poulter (70) combined for 9 under. Neither Poulter nor Rose, the two veterans, could ever remember playing in an all-English threesome at a PGA TOUR event. “I was alerted by the TOUR maybe last week some time that they were thinking about that group,� Rose said. “It was exciting to hear it.� It’ll be even more exciting if at least one of them can remain in contention Sunday, especially since no Englishman has ever won THE PLAYERS. Webb Simpson was among the attendees for a dinner local resident Jim Furyk hosted at his house Wednesday night for Ryder Cup hopefuls. Simpson is 23rd in the U.S. standings, but his 6-under 66 no doubt caught the captain’s attention. “I’ve still got a lot of work to do to get on the team, but it was nice to be there,� Simpson said. Jordan Spieth opened bogey-bogey-eagle-double en route to a 3-over 75. It wasn’t as bad it looked, though. During one three-hole stretch, he said he “lost three strokes with a total of 6 feet in the landing zone� and added that other than two bad swings, he “played good golf and just didn’t get rewarded for it.� Brooks Koepka, who recently returned to action after missing most of this year with an injured left wrist, re-aggravated the problem when he stopped in mid-swing during a practice session Wednesday in order to avoid a cart driver who had accidentally driven in front of him 15 yards away. “It’s the first time my strength actually backfired, to be strong enough to actually stop it,� said Koepka, who was hitting 3-iron stingers to practice for shots needed at the 18th hole. “He would’ve been dead. It was perfect timing.� Koepka iced the wrist overnight, then shot a bogey-free 2-under 70. Quotables My cut-to-top-6 ratio is pretty good.It’s hard not to have a smile on your face when you shoot 5 under at this place.I really don’t think I have anything to work on this afternoon. I think it’s time to go to the beach with the kids.

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Short of winning any tournament, it’s arguable that emerging as one of the 30 at East Lake in Atlanta is the hardest objective on the PGA TOUR. Of the 35 unique winners this season, 15 didn’t advance to the finale of the FedExCup Playoffs. Identifying the most confident golfers at the TOUR Championship isn’t too hard. Just read the field. Reaching the summit is one reason why each qualifier is treated to exemptions into the first three majors of 2018 as well as spots in the first two World Golf Championships. It’s nothing short of a life-changing achievement for the eight first-timers in the field. The other lane of confidence isn’t as smooth and fluid, but it matters more when making decisions for your fantasy lineups. This is where you determine who deserves the attention and your faith as a fit at East Lake. Billy Horschel caught such a blazing heater in 2014 that a kneejerk reaction would be to ignore how he prevailed by three strokes in the TOUR Championship. However, upon closer inspection, his formula for success was no more out of the ordinary than the two champions since. Horschel, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy showcased the complete game en route to their titles. All four identifiers below align with what worked for them and what projects to work for this week’s champion. East Lake’s putting surfaces average 6,200 square feet and could touch 12-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter, but they are not dastardly, devilish or diabolical. From just about every metric, they’re easier on average to solve and they are fair. With that accepted component factored in, we can widen our focus to use bogey avoidance as the catchall for short game and putting. In a nutshell, that explains why East Lake is a ball-striker’s paradise. Something to keep in mind as your watch, listen to and/or read about the tournament, since Tiger Woods won the FedExCup without winning the TOUR Championship in 2009, which was the inaugural year of the first iteration of the current points structure, every champion at East Lake also captured the FedExCup. NOTE: Golfers inside the top 20 in each statistic in the FedExCup Playoffs are listed only if they are scheduled to compete in the TOUR Championship. * – Finished inside the top 10 at the TOUR Championship in 2014, 2015 and/or 2016. Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee 1  *Dustin Johnson 2  Jon Rahm 3  *Rickie Fowler 4  *Jordan Spieth 5  Brooks Koepka 6  Xander Schauffele T7  *Kevin Chappell T7  Charley Hoffman 9  Tony Finau 11  Jhonattan Vegas 12  *Paul Casey 15  *Justin Rose 16  *Justin Thomas 18  Patrick Cantlay Greens in Regulation T2  Patrick Cantlay T2  *Jordan Spieth 4  *Gary Woodland 5  Marc Leishman 7  *Justin Rose 8  Jon Rahm T9  *Sergio Garcia T9  *Dustin Johnson 13  *Rickie Fowler T16  *Matt Kuchar 19  *Paul Casey T20  Pat Perez T20  Kyle Stanley Proximity to the Hole 1  *Dustin Johnson 4  *Justin Rose T6  *Jason Day 10  *Jordan Spieth T11  Russell Henley T13  Daniel Berger 16  Jon Rahm 19  Brian Harman Bogey Avoidance 1  Patrick Cantlay 2  *Jordan Spieth 3  *Justin Rose T4  Pat Perez T4  Jon Rahm 6  *Dustin Johnson T8  *Justin Thomas 10  Marc Leishman T11 *Rickie Fowler T13  *Sergio Garcia T15  Daniel Berger T15  *Paul Casey T15  Webb Simpson T19  *Jason Day With only 30 in the field, the usual groupings below are sparsely populated, but half of the field is still represented. Jordan Spieth (2015) is the only prior winner of the TOUR Championship back this week. NOTE: The groups below are comprehensive to assist in data mining. Inclusion doesn’t imply automatic endorsement in every fantasy game as all decisions are specific to your situation. CONFIDENCE MEN Selected golfers with multiple cuts made sorted by rank on the tournament’s money list. BUILDING CONFIDENCE Sorted by best finish, selected golfers who are either finally finding form on the course or are still relatively new to the tournament but have enjoyed some success. OTHER SIGNS OF CONFIDENCE Sorted by most recent top 10s, selected golfers for whom it’s been a few years since their last.

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